'Excited' Swann says no 'psychological advantage' for Ashes even if Oz lose in Champions Trophy clash

London, June 8 (ANI): England offspinner Graeme Swann has said that it would be nonsense to say that beating Australia in their marathon battle at the ICC Champions Trophy at Edgbaston on Saturday will help them gain psychological advantage for the Ashes series, later this summer.

However, Swann said that he is ready and excited to face their arch rivals in the Edgbaston game, adding that he hopes that they would have a fantastic game, The Sun reports.

Ridiculing the speculations that the Champions Trophy game against Australia will lay down any marker for the Ashes, Swann said that 50-over and Test cricket are completely different formats, adding that many of the players playing in the eight-nation tournament will not even be involved in the Ashes.

According to Swann, a majority of Australia's Test bowling attack does not play one-day cricket, adding that England will be treating the Champions Trophy game like any other important match in a world one-day tournament.

Insisting that there is still time to even think about the Ashes, Swann said that along with the ten back-to-back Ashes Tests, he has been told that England will have to play a total of 26 matches against Australia in the next 34 weeks.

Stating that the absence of captain Michael Clarke with a back problem will be a blow to Australia as Clarke is arguably the most in-form player in the world, Swann said that coupled with that, the fact that Australia was defeated by India in a warm-up game and failed to get good match practice is a positive for England.

However, Swann admitted that warm-up games are not as important as main matches, adding that the match, which had only received publicity because it was televised, will have no bearing on the Champions Trophy or Saturday's game.

According to Swann, his team will have to play very good cricket to beat Australia, who will put up a strong fight, although he added that the English public will not be much familiar with the current Australian team after watching the likes of Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath for many years.

But, Swann is confident about his team's chances, saying that they can put up a strong challenge in this event as they have a good momentum and players capable of winning games, adding that they just need to make their performances more consistent. (ANI)

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